I spent a lot of time watching news coverage of President Obamas recent speech at Notre Dame. I couldnt help but be reminded of my sister Terris two-week ordeal that took place at the hospice facility where she was killed in March of 2005.

The was so much that was eerily similarfrom the amount of media present and the pro-lifers who were there in prayer, to the dozens of people who were arrested for protesting against what was taking place.

Along with so many other Catholics, I found it profoundly disturbing that President Obama was not only invited to speak at a Catholic university but that he was given an honorary Doctor of Laws degree. It was what Vatican official Archbishop Raymond Burke referred to as the source of the greatest scandal.

However, just as disturbing to me was watching the Catholic students, parents and faculty praising President Obama by giving him standing ovations for his cant we all just get along about abortion speech.

They seem to have forgotten the presidents extreme pro-abortion record when he was in the Illinois state senate and his already-lengthy actions in favor of abortion as president. His direct assault on the value and dignity of life and human rights runs completely contrary to Catholic teaching.

But that didnt seem to diminish the red carpet treatment he received from Notre Dame President John Jenkins who invited Obama to speak. It is shocking and disheartening that a Catholic university would show such adoration for a president who has already been categorized as one of the most pro-death politicians to ever be elected to office.

Of course watching and listening to the medias fawning coverage was just as difficult as listening to Obama himself. Indeed, the media would repeatedly insist that pro-lifers should try and find common ground with Obamas position on abortion and embryonic stem cell research. It seems that the mainstream media wants to portray conservatives as a group that needs to adhere to the Obama administrations policies and his vision of change or risk becoming extinct. As is frequently the case, they clearly just dont get it.

Amidst all this media coverage I also reflected on Obamas position on euthanasia and his offensive remark about Terri during the campaign. Then candidate Obama claimed his biggest regret as a senator was trying to stop Terris imposed death. This is especially scary because a growing number of health care experts are already warning us that Obamas new health care plan could potentially open wide the door to euthanasia in our nation.

Make no mistake: President Obamas position on how we should treat the most vulnerable members of our society is the same for disabled and medically vulnerable people as it is for innocent unborn children. In short, he seems to believe they fall outside the protection our nation offers. This is especially absurd, given his crusade to protect Americas sworn enemies from methods of torture (his word) that fall far short of what happens during an abortion or a euthanasia death by dehydration and starvation.

This same man who advocates unlimited abortion throughout all nine months of pregnancy and regrets trying to save the innocent from a horrifying death by dehydration is doing everything is his power to protect the rights of the most merciless terrorists in our custody. His administration has even expressed outrage that caterpillars were put in a room with a terrorist as a form of torture. Since the average caterpillar is neither scary nor dangerous, it made me wonder how that would compare to depriving our most vulnerable American citizensinnocent of any crimeof food and water until they dehydrate to death. I find it ironic that he doesnt seem worried about regretting what might happen if any of these terrorists are set free to attack America again.

During all this Notre Dame controversy I also heard more than once from our media that 54 percent of Catholics voted for Obama. That is a number I never agreed with because I believe that zero percent of true Catholics voted for Obama. If you adhere to the teachings of the Catholic Church, you did not vote for him. Catholics who voted for Obama chose the change and false hope offered by a dynamic candidate over the values of their faith. To my mind, they are not Catholics at all.

It was, however, heartening to read of the hundreds of thousands of Catholics (including nearly 100 cardinals and bishops) who did object to the president speaking at Notre Dame and also to see all of the people who showed up to protest Notre Dames decision.

Words have meaning and one can only hope that Obama believes in his own rhetoric about change, because if his position does not change with respect to lifeand he remains an advocate for the continued death of our most vulnerablethen Notre Dame will be forever associated with giving such a person not only a platform for his position but a prestigious award for it as well. What a badge of shame for a previously great university.

Make no mistake: President Obamas position on how we should treat the most vulnerable members of our society is the same for disabled and medically vulnerable people as it is for innocent unborn children. In short, he seems to believe they fall outside the protection our nation offers.

Make no mistake: President Obamas position on how we should treat the most vulnerable members of our society is the same for disabled and medically vulnerable people as it is for innocent unborn children. In short, he seems to believe they fall outside the protection our nation offers.

A welfare-state country with an open-borders policy must make unpleasant choices elsewhere, it would seem.

5
posted on 05/31/2009 9:44:19 AM PDT
by Steely Tom
(RKBA: last line of defense against vote fraud)

I can’t say I’m surprised, as Obama usage of nominal Catholics and his foolhardy, arrogant pushing of the abortion agenda promise to make this a confrontational and decisive period in the fight for the culture of life.

This is especially scary because a growing number of health care experts are already warning us that Obamas new health care plan could potentially open wide the door to euthanasia in our nation.

given the genuine need to "cut costs" and his obsession with doing so by nationalizing healthcare (?!), in the context of a decade of full-on media persuasion for convenience killing, and the despicable legal precedent established in the starvation of Terri Schiavo, this is a virtual certainty.

In deat states like Florida and aregon and Washingtn, people shuld execute advance directives stating that they want all possible means used to prolong their lives if that is their desire. I personally do not want to be parched to death.

Having advance directives that specify the proper level of care can be easily bypassed by doctors dedicated to advancing the cause of death,. All they have to do is convene an “ethics” committee to vote to stop treatment and give you 72 hours to find another hospital to treat the patient if you disagree. I have seen it happen, and it will become routine.

STATEN ISLAND, New York, May 31 /Christian Newswire/ -- Fr. Frank Pavone, National Director of Priests for Life, issued the following statement upon hearing this morning of the killing of abortionist George Tiller:

"I am saddened to hear of the killing of George Tiller this morning. At this point, we do not know the motives of this act, or who is behind it, whether an angry post-abortive man or woman, or a misguided activist, or an enemy within the abortion industry, or a political enemy frustrated with the way Tiller has escaped prosecution. We should not jump to conclusions or rush to judgment.

"But whatever the motives, we at Priests for Life continue to insist on a culture in which violence is never seen as the solution to any problem. Every life has to be protected, without regard to their age or views or actions."

15
posted on 06/01/2009 4:43:15 PM PDT
by wagglebee
("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)

Dr. Alveda King, Pastoral Associate of Priests for Life and niece of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., said today that the killing of late-term abortionist George Tiller brings tremendous sorrow.

"Two years ago, I visited George Tiller's clinic in hope of telling him that babies desire mercy," said Dr. King. "I wanted to share with him the harm I experienced from abortion. My prayer was that one day he would join me in repentance. I am deeply sorry that his life was taken before that could happen."

"It's especially horrifying that Dr. Tiller was shot in church," added Dr. King. "My grandmother, Alberta King, was killed by a Christian-hating gunman as she played the organ during Sunday services. Just as the womb should be a safe haven, so should church. I condemn this murder in the strongest possible terms."

A colleague of Dr. King's in a pro-life African-American coalition, Pastor Stephen Broden, also declared, "Pro- lifers are devastated by the Tiller killing. In the great tradition of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., we pray, march, and counsel peacefully. Just as earlier civil rights workers, pro-lifers do not answer violence with violence."

16
posted on 06/01/2009 4:46:32 PM PDT
by wagglebee
("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)

Upon learning of the tragic murder of abortionist George Tiller, about whom I have written on numerous occasions, our staff realized that I was 34,000 feet in the air. As I would have hoped, American Life Leagues Executive Director, Shaun Kenney, who was on the ground, issued the following public statement on behalf of American Life League:

~snip~

The presidents sentiments as expressed in this statement represent a serious disassociation between the tragic death of one man in Kansas and the equally tragic deaths of thousands of preborn children that occur on a daily basis throughout this nation. Every act of senseless killing is an outrage and should cause shock in the heart of every one of us. But this is not what I gleaned from the presidents words.

It is, in fact, so very sad that the president can treat of one type of heinous crime as an issue while describing an equally wicked crime in the proper terms. Such contradictory language is typical of the attitude of far too many in our nation who, after more than 36 years of decriminalized killing, have come to view the born as a completely different class of people than the preborn. Too many in America have become desensitized to what abortion does to not-yet born human beings. But at the same time, they are saddened, as they should be, by what equally horrific acts do to born persons. . .

17
posted on 06/01/2009 4:49:42 PM PDT
by wagglebee
("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)

I spoke this morning with Jill Stanek, a leading antiabortion activist and blogger (and active Twitterer), about what the murder of George Tiller, who was director of a Kansas clinic that performed abortions, means for her movement. The conversation provides a window into the anxieties antiabortion activists are feeling today:

Do you worry that Tiller's murder will tarnish the antiabortion movement at a time when more Americans than ever are calling themselves "pro-life"?

It's a personal tragedy that a vigilante killed a guy who has, I think, four kids and 10 grandchildren. As a pro-life movement, our whole reason for existence is to try to stop the killing of human beings. The other side [the pro-abortion rights movement], whose very core is violence and which promotes and profits from violence, has tried for years to peg us as the violent ones. And then something like this happens.

The timing is so bad. [Tiller] was due to retire soon. He was under investigation for his license from the Kansas State Board of Healing Arts. And for him to be killed in his churchit's not good.

What's the fallout for the antiabortion movement?

Already we've seen the pro-abortion movement try to exploit this, which is not a surprise. [President Obama's chief of staff] Rahm Emanuel is famous for saying, "Never let a crisis go wasted" and already we're seeing talk of the Justice Department and [Attorney General] Eric Holder calling in forces to protect the abortion forces and clinics, and we're going to see moves to attempt to stifle free speech. It now falls to the pro-life movement to protect the First Amendment.

The pro-life movement is the most peaceful social justice movement in American history. There are a thousand abortion clinics and small groups of protesters outside many of them and nothing ever happens, except that some pro-lifers get run over by pro-aborts [pro-abortion rights activists]. So this is so ironic. There has never been a social justice movement that has been totally focused on saving human lives, as opposed to expanding voting rights or other rights, like the pro-life movement is. . .

18
posted on 06/01/2009 4:52:06 PM PDT
by wagglebee
("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)

Wichita, KS - According to a recent Gallup poll, the majority of Americans believe they are going to heaven and very few believe in a literal hell as a place of eternal suffering for sin. But late-term abortionist George Tiller says hell is a very real place -- a location in which he plans on spending all of eternity.

During a recent demonstration outside the walls of the nation's largest abortion facility, Mr. Tiller was approached by three unassuming women, each an independent sidewalk counselor. Although Tiller regularly parks his armor-laden vehicle in a secure parking garage on his clinic property, on the morning of January 22, 2003, he declared he was "celebrating freedom" by parking his truck on the public street and walking half a block to work.

The opportunity did not go unseized. A sidewalk counselor repeatedly told abortionist Tiller that God was concerned about the babies he murders through abortion. She also expressed that God was concerned about Tiller's soul. Other counselors urged Tiller to repent for the "shedding of innocent blood," and to beg Jesus to forgive his murderous sins.

With Tiller arriving at the front gate to his property, a counselor finished her plea, "You can't go to heaven unrepentant, George; you are going to hell." The abortionist George Tiller instantly quipped, "Abortion is worth going to hell for."

. . .

20
posted on 06/02/2009 4:59:55 PM PDT
by wagglebee
("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)

"Doctor" LeRoy Harrison Carhart is Nebraska's notorious partial birth abortionist. He travels to Wichita at least once a month to kill babies for Tiller.

Associated Press

For several years Carhart sold aborted baby parts to the University of Nebraska for use in research. Carhart gained worldwide fame when he fought Nebraska's ban on partial birth abortion. He took his fight all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court which ruled largely in his favor (Carhart vs. Stenberg). Carhart is now fighting the new Federal ban on partial birth abortion.

June 1, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com)  Joe Scheidler, the founder of Pro-Life Action League and longtime pro-life activist, today issued a statement denouncing the slaying of Kansas late-term abortionist George Tiller. Tiller was shot dead Sunday morning as he was serving as an usher at his church.

In condemning the murder Scheidler also recalled a chance encounter he had with the abortionist, in which he shared a taxi-cab ride with him on the way to a pro-abortion conference.

We deplore the killing of George Tiller on Sunday morning," said Scheidler.

"It has always been my philosophy that we convert abortionists. As activists committed to saving lives, we vigorously oppose violence."

Scheidler recalled how he once shared a taxi with Dr. Tiller as both were headed from the airport in New Orleans to the National Abortion Federation Convention. Scheidler was attending in order to gather information about the pro-abortion movement.

"Tiller apparently recognized me, but did not recall that I was a pro-life activist. He assumed I was another abortionist attending the conference," said Scheidler. "He enthusiastically extolled the value of the ultrasound in performing abortions, and invited me to visit his clinic in Wichita."

The following day Scheidler attended Tiller's presentation on the use of ultrasound. By then the doctor had realized that Scheidler was a pro-life leader, and refused to proceed with his presentation until Scheidler left the room.

"Having sat and talked with George Tiller, I probably feel a little more connection with him than many other pro-lifers might," said Scheidler. "I am adamantly opposed to what he did for a living. But I believe that anyone can come to the truth. Tiller deserved the chance to turn away from the evil of abortion. I cannot condone the taking of his life."

22
posted on 06/02/2009 5:05:44 PM PDT
by wagglebee
("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)

LANSDOWNE, Virginia, June 2, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Anti-euthanasia advocates from around the globe gathered last weekend at the Second International Symposium on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide to join in a rigorous discussion sketching the past and laying the groundwork for a broad-based coalition against euthanasia across the world.

The symposium took place May 29-30 at the National Conference Center in Lansdowne, Virginia. An audience of 120 listened to information-packed sessions describing the history of the euthanasia movement, analyses of recent success and failure, current dangers, as well as countless personal stories from around the world.

Rita Marker, the executive director of the International Task Force on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide, opened the Friday sessions with a penetrating look at the history of the euthanasia movement and its roots in the Hemlock Society of a quarter century ago. Noting the overall trend of success in defeating assisted suicide laws in America, Marker criticized the notion that the euthanasia legislation passed in Oregon and Washington were "inevitable," and urged activists not to be fooled into complacency after individual bills are defeated.

"Not many - some, but not many - people on our side work until they're so dog tired they can hardly move, but they keep working more," said Marker. "But on the other side, they do, because they're truly dedicated to what they're doing. We need people who are dedicated."

Attorney Margaret Dore, who analyzed the strategy on either side of Washington State's assisted suicide initiative, pointed out that the words of the initiative include no safeguards against involuntary euthanasia - contrary to the claims of its proponents. "It's not about choice. 'Choice' is a lie," said Dore.

Renowned bioethicist Wesley Smith offered his thoughts on what he calls the "coup d'culture" that has turned society towards "an obsessive fear and ... avoidance of not only suffering, but difficulty."

"It is distorting our culture, and it is changing it, and it is mutating it, into something that is not as compassionate as we should be, that is not as caring as we should be," said Smith. "If the point of society is to make sure you don't suffer, that will often be making sure there aren't any sufferers. Which isn't only about making sure the sufferer doesn't suffer, but putting the sufferer out of our misery."

Randy Richardson, father of Lauren Richardson, and Bobby Schindler, the brother of Terri Schiavo and founder of the Terri Schindler Schiavo Foundation, told of the fight to resist pressures to withdraw food and hydration from loved ones incorrectly diagnosed as in a "persistent vegetative state." Lionel Roosemont of Belgium also shared the story of his struggle to raise a child with severe disabilities amid the entrenched euthanasia culture in his country. . .

"We will not be silent. We are your bad conscience. The White Rose will give you no rest."

23
posted on 06/02/2009 5:09:41 PM PDT
by wagglebee
("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)

Washington, DC -- One of the leading pro-abortion members of the Senate has confirmed Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor's pro-abortion credentials following a private meeting with her. Sen. Diane Feinstein, a California Democrat and a member of the Senate Judiciary Committee, says Sotomayor is pro-abortion.

LANSDOWNE, Virginia, June 3, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - A culture that seeks to escape suffering and inconvenience at all costs will end by eliminating not only pain, but by ending the lives of those suffering or whose condition burden their families, warned bioethicist Wesley J. Smith this weekend.

Smith spoke at the Second International Euthanasia Symposium held at the National Conference Center in Lansdowne, Virginia. The symposium was hosted by Canada's Euthanasia Prevention Coalition.

Reflecting on the euthanasia agenda amid the modern advances of palliative care, Smith asked, "Why now?"

"We live in a time of - even despite the problems we're having - such tremendous prosperity," said Smith. "If you had a burst appendix 100 years ago, you died in agony. Today, people don't have to, at least in the developed world, die in agony."

Smith said he was further baffled after receiving piles of hate mail in 1993 for writing an article warning against euthanasia. "What happened to my culture, and where was I when it happened?" he mused. . .

"We will not be silent. We are your bad conscience. The White Rose will give you no rest."

29
posted on 06/03/2009 4:33:04 PM PDT
by wagglebee
("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)

I was shocked and dismayed when learning Kansas abortionist George Tiller had been murdered by a vigilante.

Tiller was a ghastly late-term abortionist, but he should not have been murdered, just as he should not have murdered 60,000 children throughout his years of practice. I pray for Tiller's soul. I pray also for Tiller's wife, four children and 10 grandchildren, not only for their tragic loss but also for the tragic legacy Tiller left behind.

It is falsely claimed Tiller was one of only three late-term abortionists in the U.S., for instance, in the New York Times:

Some described Dr. Tiller as one of about only three doctors in the country who had, under certain circumstances, provided abortions to women in their third trimester of pregnancy, and said his death would mean that women, particularly in the central United States, would have few if any options in such cases.

Apparently, it was Tiller himself who started it. According to The Guardian:

Tiller testified that he owns one of only three clinics in the U.S. that perform late-term abortions, which are performed on foetuses that could survive outside the mother's womb.

Before I get to my point, I want to make another.

The third trimester begins at 28 weeks of pregnancy, when healthy babies have more than a 90 percent chance of surviving.

Jill Stanek is another one who always responds, in fact I’ve found that most of the pro-life leaders/bloggers respond to emails and are very gracious and will answer multiple questions and help you any way they can.

32
posted on 06/03/2009 5:44:00 PM PDT
by wagglebee
("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)

Additional note: Luhra Tivis Warren, who once worked at the Tiller abortion business, gave her testimony at a public conference of former abortion providers sponsored by the Pro-Life action League in Chicago on April 3, 1993. She described the crematorium on the premises which George Tiller used to burn the bodies of his victims, which included babies even in the third trimester of pregnancy. She states, “I could smell the babies burning.”’

LONDON, UK, June 5, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com)  Lord Falconer of Thoroton has tabled an amendment to the Coroners and Justice Bill that would make it legal to assist a person to leave the country to commit suicide. Presently, it is illegal for someone to assist another to commit suicide, even if done out of the country. The law, however, is generally not enforced because it is not in the public interest, according to Sir Ken Macdonald, former Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

Numerous U.K. residents have in recent years travelled to Switzerland, where assisted suicide is legal, to commit suicide with the help of the suicide group Dignitas. While a number of investigations have been initiated against relatives who have travelled with the person who was committing suicide, none have resulted in charges being laid.

Lord Alton of Liverpool, however, said that the bill marks the beginning of the creation of a death cult. It is not the terminally-ill but the perfectly healthy we are talking about, referencing the fact that Dignitas is willing to assist the suicide even of those who are merely depressed and not suffering any physical illness. . .

LANSDOWNE, Virginia, June 5, 2009 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Amid the euthanasia and assisted suicide debate, the objection is frequently raised: what about those who suffer what can truly be called "unbearable pain"?

Although euthanasia advocates often mount a compelling "right to die" argument for such cases, two U.K. activists intimately familiar with the depth of physical suffering strongly deny that assisted suicide and euthanasia provide an acceptable answer to pain. Instead, they say, a society that considers suicide a legitimate option deprives sufferers of the support they need the most, and implicitly shuns the power of love to overcome suffering.

Colin Harte, director of the U.K. anti-euthanasia group ALERT, addressed the question of suffering head-on at the Second International Symposium on Euthanasia and Assisted Suicide at the National Conference Center in Lansdowne, VA last weekend. The symposium was hosted by Canada's Euthanasia Prevention Coalition. Harte is the full-time caretaker of Alison Davis, the leader of the disability rights group No Less Human, who is disabled.

Davis herself spoke first at the symposium, and battled the growing notion that people with profound disabilities - and even those with "unbearable pain" - are "better off dead."

Davis has suffered all her life from spina bifida, hydrocephalus, emphysema, and multiple other disabilities that have confined her permanently to a wheelchair and cause immense suffering. Frequent doses of morphine, she said, only somewhat alleviate her pain. "I think it's important for us to know that some pain can't be relieved. That's the case for me," she said. "When the pain's at its worst, I can't move, I can't think, I can't speak. Doctors have told me that it will definitely get worse."

Davis said that about twenty years ago, when doctors assured her she didn't have long to live, she developed a "settled wish" to die that lasted for ten years. She attempted to kill herself several times. However, she said she regained her desire to live after a 1995 trip to India where she met disabled children whom she had sponsored, and whom she began to love "overwhelmingly and fiercely." Davis later set up Enable (Working in India), a charity for disabled Indian children.

"Had euthanasia or assisted suicide been legal then, and I'd been killed," said Davis, "I would have missed what actually have been the best years of my life, and nobody would ever have known."

Davis says that people often assume that because she is in a wheelchair, she is in favor of euthanasia. However, she said, openness to such an option is not what individuals who are disabled and in pain really need.

"In my experience, when the pain is bad, what I need is not to be told I'm burdensome and it's my choice whether I want to live or die, and that perhaps I would be better off dead," said Davis. "What I need is to be surrounded by people who tell me, yes, my life does have value, and I'm not burdensome ... they can't take the pain away, but sometimes it's not the pain that hurts the most, it's the fear of being abandoned."

Davis' full-time assistant, Colin Harte, criticized the deep fear of both experiencing and witnessing suffering that he says is behind the euthanasia movement. "In many people's minds, the whole of the debate about euthanasia is fixated on the question of suffering," said Harte.

While advanced palliative care usually means the elimination of severe pain, he said sometimes, as in Davis' case, the question of suffering must be faced head-on.

In examining the modern reaction to "unbearable" suffering, Harte questioned why prisoners of Nazi concentration camps rarely committed suicide - although, he noted, firsthand accounts attest that "the thought of suicide was entertained by nearly everyone in the camps, if only for a brief time."

"Suicide was, in fact, an easy option," said Harte. "Yet in spite of contemplating suicide, very, very few went through with it. Why should this be?" Harte concluded that the main deterrent was the "solidarity in suffering" and "mutual sense of encouragement" among prisoners who collectively rejected suicide as a viable option. Amid such encouragement, he said, a "natural human resilience" emerges in spite of great suffering.

However, said Harte, "once suicide is considered a legitimate option, those words of hope lose their power - because death itself is seen as a means of liberation, the means of satisfaction. Death is regarded as the source of hope."

If assisted suicide had been legal while Alison had given up on life, said Harte, "it would have made my job absolutely impossible." "I would have been regarded as being cruel to her to encourage her to live," he said. "Once you have a law allowing the so-called 'compassionate choice' to die, if you want to emphasize another option which is going to involve suffering, you are suddenly becoming the person who is not compassionate, who is inflicting suffering."

"We live in a ... world today where those who give up the fight are called tenacious, and those who abandon their use of free will by killing themselves somehow achieve an independence. It's madness!" said Harte. "We should be able to say plainly: it's mad. It's absurd."

Contrary to the typical assumption, said Harte, death is not the only means of overcoming unstoppable pain: while Davis' physical pain did not improve after her visit to India, and in many ways has become "much worse," Harte said the children had "provided a particularly powerful motivation for her to persevere." "And that motivation has another name, a simple name: love," he said.

Harte quoted Holocaust survivor and psychoanalyst Victor Frankl, who said that, amid his suffering: "I grasped the meaning of the greatest secret that human poetry and human thought and belief have to impart: The salvation of man is through love and in love. ... In a position of utter desolation, when a man cannot express himself in positive action, when his only achievement may consist in enduring his sufferings in the right way - an honorable way - in such a position man can, through loving contemplation of the image he carries of his beloved, achieve fulfillment."

"That profound insight that resulted from Frankl's own intense suffering, which in all probability would not have been realized without that suffering," said Harte. "Love really can, and does make suffering bearable."

"Even though committed euthanasia advocates may deride the idea that there can be any point in suffering, many people would like to be convinced of its value, said Harte. "They would love to be convinced of its value. And I think we alone can show them this value."

37
posted on 06/05/2009 5:11:41 PM PDT
by wagglebee
("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)

Washington, DC -- Funding a department of the federal government is not normally a pro-life issue, but when legislation authorizing the funds includes the pro-abortion agenda that changes things. The National Right to Life wrote members of Congress today to ask them to reject such a bill. . .

38
posted on 06/05/2009 5:15:26 PM PDT
by wagglebee
("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)

Washington, DC (LifeNews.com) -- MSNBC talking head Keith Olbermann has named pro-life nurse and blogger Jill Stanek the "Worst Person in the World" during that segment of his Thursday night broadcast. Stanek is the pro-life nurse who uncovered live birth abortions at a hospital in Chicago that led to a national law prohibiting the practice.

On her blog, Stanek has noted how late-term abortion practitioner LeRoy Carhart of Nebraska is one of the few remaining people to do abortions so late in pregnancy now that George Tiller has been killed.

As LifeNews.com has noted, Stanek posted pictures of Carhart's Belleview-based abortion center, which appears as if it is housed in the back of a junkyard, in order to profile the terrible medical and health conditions for women.

Stanek has been attacked by abortion advocates, who, as Olbermann did on his program, made wild-eyed claims that Stanek is attempting to target Carhart and have him killed.

Olbermann claimed Stanek "did not get the point in the assassination of Dr. George Tiller that you can be complicit in such a crime even though you have never met the man or his assassin.

"Miss Stanek has now posted pictures and addresses of the only two remaining physicians who will provide late-term abortions when the woman's life is in danger," he claimed, even though the abortions are routinely done for nonmedical reasons.

"You'll never understand that in a just world to tell a bunch of crazy people like your readers where they can find somebody and abuse, threaten or kill them, that should be enough of a crime to put you in jail for the rest of your life," Olbermann threatened.

In an attempt to intimidate Stanek, he continued, "So let's try this one out instead, you do realize that by posting online the addresses of these two doctors clinics you've probably enabled some woman seeking their help to now find them and get an abortion. You, Jill Stanek, have just enabled an abortion."

Apart from making absurd claims that Stanek or any other pro-life advocate is responsible for Tiller's death, Stanek says Olbermann has his facts wrong.

"Never mind that I didn't actually post the addresses of LeRoy Carhart and Warren Hern," she said. "Had I done so it would have been akin to posting the address of President Obama and being accused of making him a target for nutcases."

"These guys both advertise on the web. They want people to know where they operate, pardon the pun," Stanek added.

Stanek says Olbermann should nominate Google Maps as its next "worst person" because the popular web site has maps showing the location of the abortion businesses.

Stanek also says Olbermann should target the mainstream media, who have thoroughly interviewed Hern, a Colorado-based abortion practitioner, and Carhart for news stories.

"Carhart and Hern have enjoyed more positive press in the past four days than they've had over the course of their sick and sorry careers, gleefully taking every call from every news organization," she said.

Stanek noted that the Los Angeles Times posted a large picture of Hern and his abortion center on its web site and that the Associated Press posted a large picture of Carhart's abortion center on June 1.

39
posted on 06/05/2009 5:19:19 PM PDT
by wagglebee
("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)

Mortality indeed stalks us all. But I'm talking about the death cultureabortion, infanticide, and euthanasia.

The death peddlers here and abroad seek to remove legal protection from pro-life doctors who refuse to perform abortion, refer for abortion, or participate in euthanasia. Euphemisms like "reproductive freedom," the "right to choose," and "death with dignity" justify the assault on our patient's lives and our rights of conscience. But in the midst of this inversion of right and wrong, pro-life doctor groups worldwide are banding together to form a Hippocratic Registry of Physicians.

Admittedly, physicians were not always healers. Millennia ago, healers used their power and status in society to kill and otherwise take advantage of the weak and helpless. Hippocrates, or someone like him, recognized the problem, and that is how we came to have the oath the public thinks we doctors all take, the Oath of Hippocrates.

Physicians who sign on to the Hippocratic Registry acknowledge the oath's six concepts: transcendence, which means submission to a higher authority; medicine as a moral, not just technical, activity; respect for life, meaning no abortion or euthanasia; a covenant between the physician and patient, not just a code of conduct; physician honesty and integrity; and collegiality between like-minded physicians.

Of course, we doctors don't take Hippocrates' Oath any longer and haven't for decades. New doctors recite a much changed charge filled with superficial, contemporary language, if they recite anything at all. Hippocrates' Oath has been relegated to the dustbin of modern ethical thought. "I will neither give a deadly drug to anybody if asked for it, nor will I make a suggestion to this effect. Similarly, I will not give a woman an abortive remedy," it reads.

The legalization of abortion in America meant the Oath was out. But even with abortion legalized, pro-life physicians could still practice according to their consciences. The American College of OB/GYN, however, threw down the gauntlet in November 2007 with its Ethics Statement No. 385, which defined any OB/GYN doctor who did not perform or refer for abortion as unethical. The American Board of OB/GYN quickly followed with a new requirement that an OB/GYN doctor had to agree with the ethics of the College to pass the OB/GYN boards. Washington state and Oregon have declared euthanasia (assisted suicide) a legal activity in their states. Peter Singer, Professor of Bioethics at Princeton, advocates infanticide when he writes, "killing a disabled infant is not morally equivalent to killing a person. Very often it is not wrong at all."

So, how do I respond to this challenge to my rights of conscience as a pro-life OB/GYN physician in this age? If my rights of conscience are legislated away, how long before the state revokes my license to practice medicine for refusing to perform or refer for abortion? How long before admission to medical school requires a promise to support death? (Get rid of those troublesome pro-lifers at the front end.)

This Hippocratic Registry of Physicians encourages me. The group includes doctors of any faith who value life and the tenets of Hippocrates' Oath. Although in its infancy, one could imagine a similar registry of other medical organizations such as hospitals, nursing homes, hospice organizations, pharmaciesa literal competing health-care system that honors life.

As our society "advances" to barbarisms abandoned millennia ago, I pray Hippocrates' idea will again catch fire and people will once again seek care from doctors with whom their life is safe and sacredno matter what.

46
posted on 06/07/2009 4:33:31 PM PDT
by wagglebee
("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)

This week, as a movement, the Pro-Life community has been fiercely attacked by the mainstream media. Unfortunately, because of the few who came out in support of Dr. Tillers murder, the many of us have suffered by being called terrorists and extremists. All of us who believe in the dignity of life from conception to death understand that this was a ruthless killing of what Kansas law considers to be an innocent man. Therefore, I am not writing about whether or not we are terrorists; I dont wish to dignify that accusation with a response. I do think, however, something far more worthy of discussion has come to light as a result of this controversy, and it starts with a quote from Patricia Ireland, former President of the National Organization for Women.

Ms. Ireland was on the OReilly Factor Tuesday night to discuss the medias portrayal of Dr. Tillers life as a late term abortionist versus the publics opinion on late term abortions. During the course of their conversation, OReilly asked Ms. Ireland when she believes life begins. She responded by saying, "I think immediately upon conception there is life." She believes just as you and I do that life begins at conception! How then does she reconcile the fact that abortion is murder with a womans right to choose? She went onto say, "but that is the wrong question. Fetuses do not grow inside Petri dishes, they grow inside real live women who have their own issues of health, their own responsibilities, their own dreams and hopes.

So, as long as a woman feels that a child wouldnt coincide with her plans for life, then she should be allowed to have an abortion? How far shall we carry out this ideology? I would assume that Ms. Ireland doesnt contend that you gain life as you move forward in it. So, if she feels that life begins at conception but it is okay to end that life at 28 weeks of pregnancy, what is to stop her from ending the childs life at 5 years old when the mother gets a job in another city and just doesnt feel like a child will fit in with those plans? Obviously Ms. Ireland wouldnt condone this, because it doesnt make any sense. Just like it doesnt make sense that one would condone an abortion for some arbitrary reason like the hopes and dreams of the pregnant woman, if you understand that life begins at conception.

Personally, I think this could prove to be the proverbial chink in the armor of the pro-abortion movement. I think we, in the pro-life community, need to hold her out as an example to demonstrate the absurdity of this position. I think they were able to pick up a lot of followers in the movement, because they sold them on the idea that life didnt begin at conception and therefore abortion wasnt murder. I dont think the general population of people who are pro-choice understand that life does begin at conception. What will be the impact now that one of their leaders has readily admitted on national television that it does?

47
posted on 06/07/2009 4:35:52 PM PDT
by wagglebee
("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)

After failing in the High Court and Court of Appeal, Debbie Purdy has brought her high profile House of Lords bid to seek immunity from prosecution for her husband, should he accompany her abroad for assisted suicide.

Over 100 Britons have now died at the Swiss assisted suicide facility Dignitas, though this represents a tiny proportion of Britons who have died in the last 10 years. We are told that a further 800 have registered with the organisation, including 34 who have expressed their intention to travel to Zurich to end their lives.

Meanwhile, Lord Falconer and Baroness Jay have signalled their intention to lay down an amendment to the Coroners and Justice Bill in order to decriminalise assisting suicide for Britons travelling abroad.

These moves are the latest steps in a long-running, well-funded and carefully orchestrated campaign by the pro-euthanasia lobby to change the law on assisted suicide.

The Coroners and Justice Bill is aimed at tightening up the Suicide Act 1961 to prevent the internet promotion of youth suicide. Ironically, Lord Falconer is attempting to hijack the bill for a completely different purpose  to allow terminally ill people to travel abroad for assisted suicide.

The clear intention of the pro-euthanasia lobby is to establish a beachhead for further assaults on the law in the next parliament.

The present law is there to protect vulnerable people and Parliament has firmly resisted three attempts in the last five years to change it. The current law acts as an effective deterrent by ensuring that all but the most determined individuals do not seek to push its boundaries.

But if the law were to change we would see a very different kind of case, where people who are depressed, disabled or elderly are placed under pressure, whether real or imagined, whether overt or subtle, to end their lives so as not to pose a financial or care burden to relatives or the state. . .

48
posted on 06/07/2009 4:39:25 PM PDT
by wagglebee
("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)

News of Dr. George Tiller's death was only hours old last week when bloggers began asking the question: What kind of church accepts a doctor who performs abortions into its membership?

"I wonder what kind, if any, preaching against sin this church did since Tiller felt welcomed there," opined Blue Collar Todd, who declares on his blog that "liberalism, or sometimes called progressivism, is a false religion that stands in total antithesis to biblical Christianity."

Todd has already made up his mind, and so have others who called or e-mailed me this week to criticize a column I wrote describing the desperate circumstances that brought people to Wichita to obtain late-term abortions.

But I'll take a swing at the pitch anyway.

What kind of church would embrace George Tiller? A church that believes the creator endowed human beings with both conscience and intelligence, to enable us to wrestle with the complicated questions. A church that recognizes that one's relationship with that creator can't be dictated by a central authority, or proscribed by a narrow list of rules.

Tiller's church, Reformation Lutheran in Wichita, Kan., is one that trusts its members with the freedom to decide on matters of conscience. It holds that a choice made for good reasons and in good faith does not separate a human being from God.

Some call this "relativism," and blame it for a decline in morals and corruption of society. . .

49
posted on 06/07/2009 4:42:53 PM PDT
by wagglebee
("A political party cannot be all things to all people." -- Ronald Reagan, 3/1/75)

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